There Is a Season
by aquajogger
Summary: If there ever was a Once Upon a Time... A final test has been placed, and something, be it love or selfworth or that fifty percent score needed to graduate, is to be discovered. Seasons change. It is Summer.
1. Spring

Disclaimer: I don't own Dragon Knights. See A/N for note on owning of plot.

Warnings: Minor swearing, cat-people (WTF), AU, almost schoolfic, time jump between chapters, three (four?) connected stories.

A/N: Major kudos to Hannah as this plot (all of it, as far as I can tell) is really her idea from our chibi-days. I hope she'll forgive me, though. I'm not sure if she even remembers playing this anymore, or if, now that the names and characters have been altered, she'll be able to tell who is who.

Props if she can find Flip, however.

If it helps, she's kept her ears.

:n:

If ever there was a once-upon-a-time...

This was a world where textbooks could cause tears through both their spells and frustrations. It was where teachers were strict with grading in both calculus and abjuration, in both conjugating verbs and conjuring objects. It was where students chose majors in both psychology and hydromancy, took midterms in the history of both politics and fortunetelling.

This was where the plain gray of the school uniform was fitted for both genders; it was where the girls wore slacks and the teachers, robes.

There were no fan service panty shots or clichéd bloody noses, and while it was true that cat ears and tails were found on the vast majority of the population, this was due to a genetic happenstance. They were appreciated for their enhancing of auditory abilities and balance, but their placement was a byproduct of evolution, not of shady B-rated adult movies.

These videos could be bought easily, however, with only a brief flash of ID, no matter how obviously false.

There was no oppressive rule to be overthrown, no great injustices to be righted with the destruction of tokens or speaking of spells. There were no dragons to be slain or befriended, no tourneys or sieges or pirate raids, no guaranties of a Happily Ever After.

And the last time a group of wandering adventurers had achieved great things was when the latest RPG game was released earlier in the year.

Knights were found only in history books, Elves only in fables, Demons in childish nightmares, and Thieves most commonly in prison.

This was where Pride could be called Honor, where Love was a word of pop culture, and where Friendship never had been promised to last forever.

If ever there was a once-upon-a-time, this was not it.

…But sometimes they wished it were.

:n:

The scent of pine enveloped the clearing, tall trees blotting out the pale sky. Shadowed clusters of needles, their green coats cool from the crisp air of early spring, sat silently in the dew-washed morning. The sun was barely painted over the distant horizon, lending a faded hue to the scene as if viewed through glass fogged by waiting breath.

Seven forms waited in the clinging mist, the dull gray of their slender pants and buttoned shirts giving them away as students. A couple of them had long coats wrapped about their shivering bodies, the material for those equally plain in a deep navy blue with no elaborations on its heavy surface.

One of them sighed, the sound frosting before her parted lips as she shivered inside her coat, its hem already soaked with dew. Another eased his bag to the ground, laying his coat beside it and dropping to sit tiredly on it. A second girl rubbed her bare hands together, breathing warmth over the sleek cream and chocolate fur that coated their backs, and edged towards one of the others, her eyes searching out his, only to be drawn back with a playful tug from her friend.

Day had barely visited, and there was a certain dream-like lull to the scene.

That bare glamour shattered abruptly as a sharp voice slashed the mist, the peace of the early morning fading into the distance.

"This," he announced in the whispering breeze, the statement formed with an annoyed flicker and raise as it lacerated the dawn, "is stupid."

The syllables reverberated off the sudden sense of oppression to the air. The last word echoed back sacrilegiously from the murmuring trees to the gathering in the clearing, sending a tremor of dissatisfaction through the group.

"What is it supposed to prove, anyway?" He pushed, a tinge of hopelessness audible under his frustrated front. "We've passed the exams. This crap is just to give them reason to fail us. There's no point to any of it!"

"Rath," a softer voice spoke up desperately, seeking hopelessly to end the tension that had been stirring beneath the surface ever since they had been told what their final requirement for graduation actually consisted of.

An angry red flush crept to Rath's cheeks, a low shiver edging up his back and further flattening delicate coal ears along his short wash of dark hair. Glancing red eyes to the ground, he bit back a further burst of words, hands tightly clenched by his sides. A tug of pain alerted him to the reflexive release of his claws and their subsequent dig into his skin.

A low murmur picked up where Rath had stopped as another student voiced her own distaste. "This is completely worthless," she complained, tossing her arms over her emancipated form made even smaller by the oversized coat pulled loosely about her.

Hazel eyes rippled with irritation. "Why do we have to do this?"

An iron and dusk striped tail lashed out behind her, the silky fur ruffled.

"None of the other classes did. I don't want to be here!"

"And yet you are," the second speaker sighed in exasperation, tilting his body to be better able to see her. "Lim Kaana, if you can't think of anything helpful to say…"

The girl glared at him, her own ears falling back as well.

"Look, just because you can't understand how—"

"Oh," a fourth voice groaned from the ground in the quickly waking morning, a note of impatience to the low sound, "shut up already. That includes you, Rune," he added, foreseeing his friend's addition to his words. "It's bad enough we have to be here," he muttered, "so let's just shut up and get it over with."

"Hypocrite."

He tensed at the whisper, previously lax tail twitching irritably at the well-timed phrase.

"I agree with Rath," a third female voice stated, stepping delicately over the forming argument. She placed as much cold distance as she could between herself and the name while still holding the same side of the debate, "what's the point of any of this?"

She shook her head, dropping her neatly packed bag to the ground. "Why can't we just take another exam like in the past? Those gauged our performance much better than some stupid camping trip will."

"No, we've done enough already," Lim Kaana declared, easing her own bag to the grass as well. "Let's just forget about this and go home."

"We can't do that!" Rune said, fair blue eyes staring dumbfounded at her. "This counts for almost half of our final grade. There's no way we'd be able to pass if we ignored it."

"So we fail," Rath snapped, his head jerking back up. "I'm sick of this whole scheme, anyway."

"But—"

"Drop it, Rune," Thatz ran a hand over his eyes. "It's too early to argue about this."

"It's already seven in the morning," a new voice spoke up, her light tone startled.

"Don't bother trying to tell him that," the girl holding her arm tightly captive laughed, a bright note of scorn in the otherwise cheerful sound. "Trust me, he was my partner for that levitation project in second year."

"I don't remember you pulling much weight, either, Kitchel," Thatz muttered with distaste, standing at her words.

Her tortoiseshell ears trembled but remained upright as she ignored his movement, dropping Tintlet's wrist but slipping her arm through hers and leading her closer to the others. "I didn't know they gave actual tests before, Cesia."

She nodded, the faster breeze drawing out a couple strands of black hair and waving them before her set face. "Yes. Many of the previous years had one final skills exam. It was mostly written and had a lot to do with magical theory and practice, but there was still an actual performance section. It might have been flawed, but it was certainly better than this."

Rath rolled his eyes and Rune took a tentative step closer to him. Instead of speaking to him, however, he directed his question to Tintlet, who, he noticed with an inner smile, was standing much closer.

"The sun's above the trees. Shouldn't they be here soon?"

She nodded, breaking away from the other two girls and walking next to him with a soft smile. "Yes," she turned to face east. "…There."

The simple word did nothing to break the stress in the small field, although it did momentarily pause and mute it.

"…Where?" Kitchel spun to face the thick wall of pine the other two were watching intently. "…Oh." The sound slipped off her lips as three shadowy figures began to emerge from the forest, soundlessly making their way over the dense undergrowth.

The silence was pricked only by the sudden gust of air that rent the clearing, its churning race tugging at the low grass.

The man in front walked briskly up to them, the clear silver of his trailing robe flashing in the early morning sunlight. It was identical to those of the other two but for the slender gold trim at its hem, a slight contrast to the blue and red details of the others'. His figure was darkened, framed by the light behind him, but easily recognizable.

"Lykouleon."

The name was breathed on the feathered air, quickly followed by a bare shake of Rath's head.

"Rath," Rune turned away from Tintlet, directing a sharp look at his friend, "Professor Lykouleon! Sir Lykouleon! Not just…"

He fell silent as Thatz swatted irritatedly at his leg and the man in question bit back a silent laugh.

Lykouleon began to speak, talking with a soothing placidity as two taller figures behind him stood silently. If it were not for his bearing of quiet authority, they would have towered over him.

One of them looked increasingly impatient, while the other merely bemused.

"Is everyone settled?" Lykouleon smiled comfortingly at the seven students standing before him, clear blue eyes picking up the nearly tangible intermingling of curiosity and resentment.

It was hard to tell if he was trying to reassure them or himself.

"As you know," he continued in a firmer voice, the now-stronger breeze toying with his golden hair and light material of his robe. "It is tradition for the graduating class of Dusis to be set, in addition to their regular final exams, an extra challenge. One which will test not only how well you have honed your practical knowledge of our world, something which all your professors have strived to teach you, but more basic skills as well."

He paused here to look slowly over the assembled faces before him, breathing in the varied expressions reflected back to him.

Boredom. Irresolution. Unadulterated loathing.

"Innovation. Tenacity. Cooperation."

His voice rose steadily to combat the pull of the wind that was now tugging forcefully at his clothes and those of the students in front of him. "These are your goals. These are your guiding stars," a yelp pierced the air at this cliché, one of the female students spinning around as a particularly strong windburst knocked her bag to the ground, spilling its contents in the grass. "It is for these that you will be searching," he went on determinedly, "and it is because of the enormity of this task that you will be given so long to complete it."

Behind him, a tall dark-haired man shifted his weight, barely suppressing a rough growl in the back of his throat as his long hair whipped past his face. "How much longer can he go on for? " He muttered to his companion in a low murmur, ears a royal black with a bare tint of violet twitching with impatient irritation.

"What are you talking about?" The other asked blithely, seemingly oblivious to the sudden drastic change in the weather. His long silver robe fell undisturbed around his feet, only its very edges rippling in the near gale.

Deep red eyes stayed perfectly still but a long tail lashed dangerously. "Stop that."

The second man acted as though he had not heard the order, giving no change in either posture or outward attitude. Nevertheless, the winds immediately plummeted back to a light breeze appropriate for an early spring morning.

"…Better?" He asked. His voice was polite, albeit only grudgingly.

"Twelve months--" Lykouleon caught himself, lowering his voice from the near shout he had been using to overpower the weather a second earlier to a more reasonable level. "You will all have twelve months in which to find these things with only each other for guidance."

A polite cough from behind him interrupted him, and he turned, smiling warmly to the two men behind him.

"Yes?"

"Not all of them, Lykouleon."

A moment's confusion passed before Lykouleon laughed lightly, suddenly losing his orator's voice and explained cheerfully to the startled students. "That's right. As Professor Kharl has been kind enough to remind me, we will be dividing you up into groups."

An exasperated moan slipped into the air, and he continued. "Think of it as working with a partner on a final project. That's what this really is, and that's how you should think of it, if it will make it easier."

Kitchel raised her hand in the air with the bounce of forced enthusiasm from where she was still kneeling, quickly packing items back into her bag.

"Yes?" Their teacher smiled at her, "what is it?"

"Are we allowed to choose our groups?" She asked, placing a hopeful emphasis on the fifth word.

"No," the dark haired man spoke, stepping forward for the first time, his words smooth. "Part of this," he seemed to struggle for a word that would subtly convey his contempt for the project, "little experiment is to have you all work with someone you don't normally spend time with. Otherwise there would be less of a challenge, don't you think?"

Her face fell momentarily, mottled ears dipping in visible disappointment.

Shadows began to ease back into the surrounding forest as the sun climbed steadily higher. Soon the clearing would be standing naked beneath the sky.

"But don't you think—"

"Here," Lykouleon spoke up again, "the day is growing old fast, and we need to have everything set up before nightfall. There's a long walk ahead of all of you, and the sooner we get started the better." His face was placid, but a spark of barely concealed humor in his eyes caused Cesia to choke back the complaints rapidly rising in her throat.

Uncomfortable though she was with the other two teachers as supervisors for their task, Lykouleon had a calming effect.

It would be difficult, but not impossible.

She rapidly tied up that loose end of thought as he brushed past her, catching Rath by the forearm and missing the startled look of violated disgust that flashed in his face.

"I pity whoever gets stuck with him," Cesia heard Lim Kaana whisper to the world in general, both agreeing and secretly delighting in her saying it.

Since she had spoken up, especially in such a negative fashion, she was sure to be the one partnered with the increasingly reluctant Rath, Cesia thought, noting grimly the way he twisted away from the teacher, dragging his feet over the short grass.

"Rath," Lykouleon started, "I would like you to work with," as Cesia had predicted, his cool eyes searched and settled on Lim Kaana, a sudden excited spark lighting them up even as the girl's filled with horror.

Clichés were so predictable.

"Cesia."

She blinked, startled, and begun to spin around to see the speaker, only to realize there was a pair of cold hands on her shoulders, the tips of claws barely visible under the eerily silver fur.

She shivered, ears falling flat, already feeling the thin stripe of white fur up her back bristling.

"Cesia?" Lykouleon blinked as well, looking the student over and ignoring the suddenly increased struggle Rath was putting up. "…Yes. Yes, I think that would work nicely. Rath, I would like you to work with Cesia."

Cesia bit back a gasp as Kharl suddenly pushed her forward, an all-too-sunny smile on his face. Rath glared as Thatz snickered, but allowed himself to be edged off to the side, standing next to Cesia but watching the trees even as she stared furiously at the ground, inflamed with the injustice of it all.

Her breathing throbbed in her sensitive ears, mingling with the pound of her blood and the taunting whisper of the wind.

Of all the people… Of all the people to be partnered with! She could handle Lim Kaana better, and that girl could be a brat when she wished. Rath just rubbed her the wrong way with his constant proclaimed hatred for the school and its administration. His manner got under her skin far more effectively than that of any of the other students.

Of all the people… Cesia's tail cut through the air, lashing it into a broken slice of sky.

"Now, here's a pair premade!" She heard Kharl laugh, clapping his hands together. Without looking up she could see Rune's faint blush and Tintlet's embarrassed smile and let a grudging seed of happiness for them slip into her mind.

It would be cute to see them together.

"No way!"

The distraught yelp caught her off guard and she jerked her golden eyes up to see Kitchel pulling back, arm caught in Kharl's grasp in an ironic twist of her earlier actions.

"Come on," the girl continued, "why can't I work with Lim instead? She still needs a partner!"

"That's not nice," Cesia commented as she as she was pulled towards Rune, speaking over her confusion. "They might not talk much, but Rune's a good guy. Besides, why only mention Lim Kaana? Tintlet doesn't have a partner yet, either."

"Yes she does," Rath said, his voice low and irritable. He jerked his hand back towards the scene, and Cesia's eyes widened as she noticed the other girl standing almost too close to Rune.

"Wait, but then…?"

"Hey, you think I want to be partnered with you? Rune, c'mon, trade with me!"

The corner of Rath's mouth twitched up, a dry twist of a laugh escaping his lips.

He muttered something Cesia wasn't quite able to catch, a sadistically pleased gleam to his dark eyes.

"Rune's already with Tintlet," Kitchel complained, "but Lim's by herself. Let me go with her."

"Hmm," Lykouleon placed a closed hand to his mouth, "this is a problem. What do you think? Which group should she be added to?" he asked, turning to the last, long-silent man.

Kitchel faltered, then turned to him as well, speaking up in a last desperate plea. "Let her come with us. Please?"

Lim Kaana shivered in the pause before he spoke judgment, feeling strangely shrunken, set out for display. It hadn't bothered her before, this sense of uselessness. But now it overwhelmed her. She felt even smaller than usual, especially when the man stepped closer to her, his tall figure rising far above her, casting a deep shadow over her frame.

"Put her with them."

His voice was velveteen and void of emotion but for a mere hint of pleasure at being given this opportunity to seize power.

Kitchel's eyes lit up for an instant before she realized he was pointing past her, to where Rune and Tintlet stood.

Lim Kaana wrapped her arms tightly about herself, letting the dark blue of her coat consume her body.

Rune winced, and Lykouleon began to speak once more.

"What you do first is up to you. You may sit around and bicker, or you may get to work. I no longer have any power over your activities. I do recommend seeking out shelter, however." Faint birdsong could be heard filtering through the nearby canopies now, and Thatz swore quietly. "Morning is broken. It is the turn of the Vernal Equinox and the start of your journey."

Lim Kaana scuffed her shoe against the ground, tearing at the grass.

"I will not wish you luck," Lykouleon continued, "but I hope you all," his eyes lingered on a face rimmed with dark hair but was unable to meet its downcast red eyes, "discover something the academy was unequipped to teach you."

Before his words had been given time to rest on the spring air, they were dissolved by a sudden whirlwind of rushing sound and light and deposited along with their bearer on a smooth granite platform halfway up the nearby mountain range almost directly to the west of the clearing.

The flash of magic left the students disoriented, the intricately woven charm belaying only a note of the power welded by its bearer.

The air felt unnaturally still in the absence of the spell, although a flicker of wind rang around the edges of the high ragged peaks in the distance.

"…That was unnecessary," Lykouleon commented, his voice only faintly annoyed.

"My apologies. I thought you were finished."

Lykouleon glanced at the slender man then flicked his cerulean eyes back to watch the scene far below and eastwards as the jumble of students began to slowly move apart.

A new voice spoke up, the syllables solid as neither Lykouleon's flexible prose or Kharl's twisting wording was.

"It was wasteful."

Kharl widened his pale eyes in mock surprise at the change of speaker, drawing a hand covered with the finest coat of silver fur to his mouth. "What a surprise!" There was no noticeable change in his tone or taunting expression but sharp beige claws suddenly appeared at the edges of his fingers. "Of course it was wasteful. It was meant to be showy. Give them something to talk about." His voice lowered to the scratch of talons in sand, barely audible above the sudden cry of the wind.

"…Distract them."

Lykouleon spoke again, his hands clasped behind his back as he stared down at the distant landscape from the rim of the ledge.

"I wonder if we should have told them more."

"No," Kharl stepped easily next to him, crossing his arms in their billowing sleeves. "They can figure everything out themselves." His sharp eyes picked out traces of movement, noting the three separate directions.

"As he said," the third man added in smoothly as he walked to Lykouleon's other side, narrow red eyes watching the valley below them carefully, "they will be fine."

"Yes," Lykouleon smiled at him, relaxing with his appearance, "They're as ready as they'll ever be. You're right. Thank you, Nadil.

Nadil laughed, the sound sleek and quick to fade. "Of course I am."

Unlike Kharl, his gaze was more selective.

Ruby eyes singled out a shiver of motion as it wove through the dense forest, steadily making its way West.

:n:

Dried leaves crinkled but did not snap under the two sets of soft footsteps winding through the ever-thickening trees. The air was still light with early morning, but was growing louder as the surrounding wilderness stretched the dawn into day with its chatter.

Cesia brushed dyed bangs from her face, cream ear twitching at the engulfing mesh of sound.

"There will be caves at the mountain. We can find a place there."

"Why don't we just stay in the forest?"

She glanced back at Rath, furrowing her brow at his discontented scowl.

"What's wrong with a little extra work? It will be easier in the long run if we stay up there. We can take a cave, and there should be fresh water. Besides, we are staying in the forest, if you haven't noticed."

Rath glared sharply at her back, ducking under a low pine branch, his thick pack snagging on its rough bark.

"Don't be such a smartass."

"Then don't complain so much." She sighed, readjusting her own bag and pretending to be willing to trek on for several more hours.

Rath rolled dark eyes at her shoddy pretense and quickened his pace, striding easily past her, forcing her to speed up further or lose him in the thick cover.

The morning was waning into a cool early afternoon, the sun just beginning to slip past its halfway point in the sky before they slowed their pace. The trees had been thinning for some time, moving rapidly from thick trunks placed almost on top of one another to more slender ones spaced out over the gently sloping ground. With more sunlight reaching the forest floor the grass was becoming thicker as well and less covered with leaves and branches. The few patches of dirt they did see were dark, although rockier than that of the deep woods or the clearing where they had started.

The mountains, while close to start with, were now directly before them. The earth underfoot was starting to climb more obviously upwards, although they both found it still easy going.

"There," Rath said, pointing finally to a darker spot on the mottled rock wall looming in front of them and hideously oversized under the afternoon glare. "Let's try there. That looks promising."

Cesia grudgingly nodded, some part of her annoyed he had spotted it first. "It doesn't look like anything's there," she added, scanning the thick black soil for tracks. "And the ground's moist. There must be water nearby, too."

The nearby vegetation was lush, dropping smoothly from trees to bushes and grass, trailing to a halt a few feet from the narrow entrance of the cave. It was more of a crack in the thick rocks just wide enough for two people abreast to walk through, provided neither was very large, than a proper gaping mouth, and light quickly failed, allowing them to see no more than a few yards in.

Water could indeed be heard nearby, the sound faint but pleasing after their long walk. Although the air was cool, the sun was bright, and Rath brushed sweat out of his eyes as he spoke.

"See if you can find the stream," he dropped his pack to the ground and stepped towards the mouth of the cave, an intent look upon his face. "I'm going to check this out."

"What?" Cesia blinked, confused, and let her own bag slide off her shoulders as well. "Rath, what do you…" her words trailed off as he disappeared into the dim passageway, the dull gray of his uniform blending with the poor lighting. His footsteps could be heard echoing back to her for a while, strangely muffled with the occasional crack, as if he had stepped on something hard and brittle. She shook her head, scowling at the noise.

_He's so hardheaded!_

Setting off in a loose loop to the South where the faint shiver of water seemed to be the loudest, Cesia's ears twitched back as if listening to something behind her. There had been no audible sound from the other, however, merely an unseen flicker in the air.

…_Rath's using magic?_ Cesia shook her head in disbelief. At least it was only a small spell. Hopefully he was only using it as a candle to light his way.

Within the cavern, Rath raised the flicker of fire in his palm above his head, casting a wavering orange glow over the rough stone walls and ceiling hewn from the mountain by some ancient act of nature. Crimson eyes trained upwards, Rath's slow smirk broadened.

"Bats."

The sun outside brought a more even light to the low plant life as Cesia pushed her way through a sudden mess of shrubbery, squeezing through the dense branches. Brushing bark and twigs off her clothes, her eyes lit up. Her hunch had been correct. These mountains were tall and attracted clouds; their sides were carved with long years of rain running down them to fuel the large lake further southwards. Many small streams and rivers flowed off the mountains, running through and around the woods, although there had been none where they were gathered earlier that morning.

A splashing brook, banked by deep soil and low clinging plants, running sharply down the steadily rising slope was rushing past her feet.

About to kneel beside it for a closer look, a silent crash ran through the air, carrying with it an intangible wave of heat: a large fire spell.

Cesia whirled around, the white fur on her tail stiffening.

"What the…!"

Scrambling out of the streambed, she raced quickly back to the cave, arriving amidst a flurry of shrieks and screams as a black wave tumbled out of the mouth of the cave, encircling it in a foggy mess.

At first she thought it was a cloud of smoke, then she noticed with a start that it held individually moving creatures in the confused jumble.

"Rath!" Cesia yelled, coughing as some of the smoke blew her way from the artificial wind created not by magic but by many sets of wings, "Rath, what the hell are you doing?"

The student appeared out of the tumulus mass, rubbing the side of his face where several long scratches decorated it.

"What is that? Bats?" Her voice was muffled behind her hand, the oily smoke swirling around them.

He glanced briefly at her before turning his attention to the swarm of creatures, now winging their terrified way into the creviced mountains.

"Yes," Rath said, unbothered by the slowly vanishing smoke. "They were in the cave."

"And you drove them out?" Her tail lashed, "We could have just found another place to stay!"

"This one was nice," he protested without much concern, "there's plenty of spots for them higher up the mountain. This one is convenient for us."

With a low growl Cesia pushed past him, sticking her head into the crevice to see for herself, half hoping to find a major flaw.

"God," she coughed again, quickly drawing her fist up to her mouth, "idiot! You fumigated this place!"

"It's not that bad," Rath defended himself, peering into the dim as well. "I had to make the fire pretty big to get them all out. Plus, this way it burned all the guano."

Cesia turned to stare at him in disbelief, one side of her mouth curled up into a disgusted grimace. "You do realize we probably could've found another place within half a mile?"

He shrugged, forming a much smaller ball of fire in the palm of his hand and stepping down into the dark. "Want to see the inside? This front passage goes on for a little while, then it opens into a small cave."

Following Rath down the slight drop into the cavern, Cesia tried to hide her eagerness. They'd actually found shelter! They'd found it with plenty of time to spare. Now just to make it comfortable… or at least inhabitable. As she walked behind him, Cesia noticed several places where drafts, presumably from hidden air shafts to the upper world, slid through. They would have to do something about those if they were to stay here. It wasn't bad now, but she didn't want to think what it would be like to spend the winter with the chilly ventilation still in place.

"Here."

The murky gray widened into an empty dark and Rath stopped walking, concentrating for a moment while the flame pulsated and grew to the shape and size of a flickering feathery ball.

It lit up the wider stone room, showing a cavern approximately ten feet across and fifteen feet deep, roofed and walled by thick gray stone and floored by dirt and crisp burnt ashes.

In spite of herself, Cesia was impressed.

"The first thing we should do is clean this out," she said, giving a brisk gesture which neatly encompassed their surroundings. "Then we can bring in our stuff."

Rath heaved a sigh; he had forgotten they still needed to clean the cave before moving in.

"Oh, great. You know," he added more cheerfully as Cesia ran mentally through her list of spells, "this might not be so bad. Not that I want to be partnered with you," he clarified with a quick exhale of breath, earning himself a snapped glare.

"Well, you weren't exactly my first choice either," she said, the words irritated. Barely pausing after her complaint, Cesia added a solitary command. "Wind."

"Wha—" It took Rath a moment, a half-blink of the eye, to realize what she was talking about before his words were snatched away by the crescendo of magically induced wind encircling her two raised fingers.

While he was later forced to admit that it did do a fast job of cleaning the floor, sending all the debris tumbling outside, what Rath noticed more at the time was how it had also plastered a good deal of the charred feces and discarded meals over the walls and their bodies.

"…Shit!"

The irony was duly noted.

:n:

The sun was beginning its golden descent, trailing wisps of white cloud as it drifted to the range of mountains and rolling hills in the West.

Lim Kaana paused to look up at it, more interested in this daily ritual than in the mundane chore of gathering water.

"Lim Kaana!"

She scowled at the use of her name, immediately dropping her hazel eyes to the softly lapping water of the encompassing lake, dunking the metal pot once more into its depths. One of the others had been sharp enough to bring it, while her own lay back at the dormitories, resting next to her bed. It was the one item off their list of requirements that she had forgotten to pack, and as of yet the only thing they had asked her to use.

"We just got a fire going."

Lim Kaana glanced sideways at Rune, her gaze flickering over his waiting form. Biting her lip, she filled the container to the brim once more and handed it to him, casting her eyes back over the wide expanse of sky-mirrored water as he turned to walk back to their camp.

They'd been here for several hours already, arriving only fifteen minutes after they had parted that morning. They had reached the sprawling lake, its waters fed with the mountain rains, and waded and swam to one of the larger of the island peaks nestled close to shore.

The southern side they were nearest to had the good fortune to consist of a long expanse of sandy banks that had enabled them to walk through the shallow water for the majority of the way. Lim Kaana, even though she was by far the shortest of the three, had found it necessary to swim only for a short while in the middle, while Rune walked all of it with ease, although he had to carry her bag as well as his own.

The shoreline they had reached was sandy, the fine white grains apt to cling together like wet dirt and scattered with rocks. It quickly sloped up to a small domed crest before falling just as gently into the water on its opposing side, not more than five minutes walk away. However small it was, it was also covered in short but thick yellow-green grass, several small clusters of pines at its center. It was here, pressed between two slender trunks, that Rune and Tintlet had managed to set sparks to wood with the aid of a small box of matches.

Lim Kaana thought it stupid to chose this site for their camp, as, although it had abundant water and, though that, food, it was lacking in feasible shelter.

There were no mountains in which to search for caves, as she had been planning on doing, nor was there enough wood to build even the most modest a lean-to without carting it piece by piece from the mainland.

Lim Kaana rolled her eyes, extending her thin arms and claws over her head in a brief stretching motion as she stood.

Whatever. That was their problem. She was just along for the ride; since they were the ones who actually wanted to succeed, they were the ones who could work for that success.

Her wide eyes sliding shut, she let out a brief sigh.

"This sucks," she spoke aloud, allowing the mesh of clouds overhead to hear her.

"What does?"

Her eyes jerked open once more, a startled blush creeping up her cheeks at the cheerful yet confused feminine voice behind her.

"Oh…" Lim Kaana turned around, adding in a silent, "it's you."

Her lower lip jutting to the side in a display of annoyance that betrayed her casual tone, she continued. "…Nothing." Shrugging, Lim Kaana started to walk back towards where their three bags were laid, glancing through and past Tintlet to her belongings.

"It's a nice sky, isn't it?"

She paused, uncertain at this obvious attempt at friendly conversation.

"Yeah, I suppose," she shrugged again, automatically crossing her arms defensively across her thin form and shot a brief aloof glance at the other. "If you like that sort of thing."

Quickly stepping off again, Lim Kaana squashed the notion that not only had her reply been uncalled for but also mostly incomprehensible.

Tintlet watched her reach their luggage then drop down by her bag, glaring at it as if it was withholding the answers to her life beneath its navy folds.

"My," her hand brushed briefly over slightly parted lips, doubtful whether she should smile or sigh. In compromise she set her face to a more serious expression and turned back to the shore.

Rolling up the gray sleeves of her uniform in order to try and keep them as dry as possible, Tintlet began to wade into the water, carefully picking out her eighth-mile path back to the far shore.

They needed wood, thick planks, for their shelter, and this was obviously nowhere to be found on the island. While it provided them with defense from much of the wilderness along with plenty of water and food, they needed to work harder to set up protection for themselves against the elements. They would be fine for tonight: it would be mostly clear, a few clouds flitting across the sky, but no rain would fall. That was what Rune had said, and along with his basic Water magic, he had learned to foretell the immediate weather with methods both magical and not. It was a useful skill, although he was unable to do anything to change what the outcome would be.

Tonight they would be chilly, nothing more, and nothing they wouldn't be able to handle with a blanket each and a small fire. Tintlet was glad of both the school-issued woolen blankets and the several packets of matches Kitchel had helped her hide away in her bag.

She felt the water at her upper chest begin to recede and she blinked, awakening from her thoughts.

She was already more than halfway there and she began to quicken her pace.

While Rune strove to clear several yards of ground on the island to a flat dusty surface, Tintlet was to search about on the shoreline for both dinner and wood.

The food she would carry back with her. The trees and logs she would mark so that the next morning they could be easily found, cut, and brought carefully back across the lake for use.

As Tintlet stepped out of the lake on the far shore, she shivered, taking a moment to be grateful for her training with water. The thin cream fur over her wrists and the darker gloves over the backs of her hands was plastered to her skin, creating a distinct crawling feeling, not quite of discomfort, but one that still took a long time to get used to. Most of her friends would have balked at the prospect of crossing the lake; dipping one's tired hands or feet into water was fine, even dunking one's face was, on occasion, acceptable. None of them would willingly swim, however. Even Lim Kaana had shuddered and flinched, although she had been stubbornly silent and stoic up to that point.

She looked back across the soft surface of the lake, clearly picking out Rune's form toiling half-hidden between the trees. He looked like a small gray smear over the darker greens, and Tintlet smiled upon remembering the bolt of beige material that they had been allowed to bring as well. She would make them some better clothes. The year was turning swiftly warmer and their uniforms would soon be too hot.

In fact, Rune was already feeling uncomfortable inside his autumn and winter uniform as he worked to clear and level a quickly spreading patch of dirt. He knew no spells that could help him, so the labor was slow and tedious, simply scraping away the grass a few inches at a time.

He had been at first pleased to find the flattened gray rock he used to tear at the grass and soil, secretly taking it as a good sign of how easy things would be, but now wished he had thought to smuggle in a hoe.

Not that he knew how that would have been accomplished.

His hands were already blistering from pressing against the many small nicks and uneven spaces on the stone's surface, and he leaned back, kneeling on his heels, and wiped sweat from his brow.

Rune glanced briefly at Lim Kaana, feeling a twinge of resentment for the way she was sitting idly to the side by the slowly heating pot of water and shifting through her bag with an air of utter boredom.

The flames brushed over the bottom of the iron container, and Rune decided to speak up.

"Do you want something to do?" Rune questioned, forcing himself to keep his tone pleasant, as if he was merely trying to cajole Thatz into helping clean up the shared lab or edge Rath towards starting his homework.

Lim Kaana flicked her eyes up at him, ears crouching close to her hair as she realized the other student was unexpectedly speaking to her.

She looked away once more, obstinately not answering.

He let out an exasperated breath and resumed his work, although his next few stabs against the earth were with noticeably greater force.

At least he was still with Tintlet.

An unbidden smile hovered over his lips and although Rune did not again pause in his efforts, his gaze was drawn to the partially hidden shore across the short stretch of lake.

Lim Kaana looked up abruptly, her mouth open to speak, to answer his question if not earnestly then at least somewhat amiably, then realized with a confused start that she no longer held his attention.

Her vision traced quickly along his, darting past the near surroundings and the lake to the encircling trees and shore.

Lim Kaana glanced back at Rune and scowled.

_...This sucks._

:n:

The afternoon light was fading to a caramel glow, pink mesh streaking through the wide gulf of sky. The air that had briefly grown warm was now settling back to cool, drawing tightly about the ground.

Walking on over the gently undulating hills and ever nearing western mountains, Thatz ran a hand through his disgruntled hair, light brown ears dipping as they were brushed by.

"We need to find someplace soon."

"I know that," Kitchel snapped, the words coming out sharper than she had intended. "It's getting late, though." Her hands gripped the thick straps of her bag, eyes scanning the fading landscape before them. "Let's go this way."

He glanced in the direction she was looking, brow furrowing.

"What? No. Look, it just leads to those hills. We've seen hundreds of them since noon. I say we keep going the way we're headed. The trees get thicker again down there, see? There should be shelter there. And water." He sighed dryly, running his hand through his messy hair once more. "I'm thirsty."

"You got to choose the last direction," she complained, taking a short step to their left and to the low ridge of hills. "And you got us wandering in the middle of nowhere."

"We were already in the middle of nowhere," he commented stubbornly, but turned to follow her chosen path, quickly overtaking her once again with his longer strides and forcing her to hasten her pace.

In truth they were both tired. Neither was used to walking all day, especially not with the past four hours spent under the open sky with their only protection their gray uniforms.

She had stumbled up a particularly steep hill, then paused for several minutes at its top, claiming to scout out the land while really hoping to get some feeling back into her dulled legs and he hid his gratefulness for the break with an exasperated complaint.

He had demanded they stop for a late lunch under the bright sun to ease his teenager's hunger while secretly trying to regain some bearings and breath and she managed to laugh in scorn while trying to hide her relief for the respite.

Gasping lightly, Kitchel scrambled past Thatz up what they both took to be an unfairly rugged hill, mentally bemoaning how it was really more of a slightly slanted cliff than the smooth mound its name implied. Standing at its top, she gazed with delight into the carefully dipping valley its height had shielded them from. A narrow grassy field was drawn between the ridge they had clambered up and the low rocky upheavals on its opposite side, not more than a quarter of a mile away from the base of where they currently stood. The river she had chanced to spot earlier in the day while making a show of surveying the land in order to buy her some time to catch her breath wove its way through the small clearing, providing refreshment for the handful of trees below.

Set amid the miles of confused hills and rocks, this patch of growing land looked like an outpost of Eden.

"I knew it," she crowed as Thatz stood beside her, green eyes widened in amazement. "I told you I knew I was going. I saw the water from the hill," she grinned, nearly laughing with relief and pride as she began to make her way downwards.

Dropping her bag at the foot of the hill, she let out a cry of joy, elated at her skill and good fortune. Snatching hold of a second wind, she ran suddenly towards the thick band of water winding languidly beneath the now-multicolored sky, its surface glowing as if it was a fallen strand of the Northern Lights stretching across the ground. Thatz had not been far behind her in climbing down and he soon picked up the chase as well, skidding to a stop beside the riverbed a moment after she did.

He knelt and plunged his head into the chilly river without a second's hesitation as she lay down at its bank, yanking off her shoes and socks to trail her legs in the current and letting the water temporarily stain her light pants to dusk.

"Are you sure we can drink it?" Kitchel asked, watching as Thatz resurfaced, face and hair dripping.

"Of course." His right ear twitched, flicking drops of water from the thin tan fur. "If this land was poisoned, they wouldn't have stuck us out in the middle of it."

She flashed him a skeptical glance, obviously not trusting this logic.

"Well, if you want to be safe, you can boil it first. I don't know how you plan on doing that, seeing as how I don't know any Fire magic and you're even worse than I am at…"

He stopped mid-sentence, turning as she jumped up and trotted off, calico tail swaying lazily above her legs.

Thatz shook his head, eyebrow raised in silent questioning, then dropped to the ground at the edge of the river, the low growl in his stomach alerting him to the coming of evening. They would need to be able to make a fire, he admitted, if not to cleanse the water then at least to cook their food. Fish could be eaten raw, but he was far less than keen on the idea of having it daily. Hopefully there were some birds living around here. He cocked his head to one side, pricking up his ears and tipping them towards the small grove of trees.

Yeah. That was birdsong, all right, although he was uncertain as to what species it belonged to.

He leaned back, propping himself up against the grass with his elbows, ignoring the mesh of green stains which were likely to form. How did you make fire again? He furrowed his brow, staring up and out at the dimming sky.

"Two sticks, of course, and some sort of kindling—that should be easy to find. But what sort of wood were you supposed to use? Beech? Oak? Ahh, I know there was one type that was recommended, but which? …And would we even be able to find it around here?"

Glancing dubiously at the few trees, Thatz was startled from his partially spoken monologue by the packet of matches thrust into his face.

"Here!"

Jerking back from the red and beige cardboard box, Thatz craned his head around to see Kitchel standing behind him, an all-too-pleased smile on her face.

"Get some wood or something," she said, placing her backpack gently beside them and withdrawing more items from inside it, "I'll get some water."

He noticed the way it seemed packed to past maximum capacity even after the matches and a pot were removed, indeed looking much heavier than his own, and wondered briefly what else was stuffed inside.

"Sure," Thatz stood slowly, stretching out his tired limbs, then looked around his immediate surroundings. "…Where's my bag?"

"Back where you left it," Kitchel said, blinking innocently up at him from where she was now kneeling beside the flow of water, container in one hand.

"What?" Thatz spun about with renewed energy, a low moan escaping him when he saw his belongs were indeed left so far away. "Kitchel, it was right next to yours! Couldn't you have just brought them both back?"

"No," she replied with little sympathy. "Besides, you're supposed to be getting things to burn. Go get your bag while you're at it."

Muttering to himself, Thatz set off, tail bristled.

Kitchel ignored his retreating form and the few derogatory words she was able to catch on the light breeze, carefully setting the collected water beside her on the riverbank.

They never did get along well, the one previous attempt their teachers had made at forcing them to reconcile their differences had ended poorly to say the best, and in a GPA-shattering ego war to be more precise. This "project" was supposed to teach them something, according to their head professor and the handout each had received. The only thing they were likely to learn was more creative and painful ways to irk each other.

Kitchel's ear swiveled as Thatz passed back into auditory range, and she slid her feet back into the cooling water.

She shouldn't have been partnered with him.

:n:

It wasn't long before night fell over the secluded mountains and forest, dew slowly forming on the grass and mirroring the dotted stars in the velveteen sky.

It was dark; the only lights on the ground were the reflections in the rivers and lake of the stars and half-moon overhead and three scratches of orange light framed against the solid black of the earth.

This was plenty, however, and the land appeared to be seen through a layer of thick glass, iced apart from where the heat of fire was strong enough to burn back the chill. There it became perfectly transparent, the mists drawing back to show the scene within its circular glow.

Two black-haired figures, white standing out sharply against both, one in the form of ears and the other in a slender forelock lay on opposite sides of a stone cave, the smolder of their fire barely visible from outside.

An island lit up for the first time in living memory by an unwavering campfire betrayed three more humanoid outlines, two of them lying noticeably closer than the third.

And a hastily contrived fire beside which one figure curled and her partner sprawled, a half-eaten fish smoking slowly among the embers.

Apart from the muffled calls of the crickets and nocturnal birds, it was quiet. Almost amazingly so after a day of arguments and insults and curses.

Kharl sighed, the silence boring him.

"This is dull," he complained in a low whisper, "nothing exciting happened. I was hoping for something more dramatic."

"I know." The reply was a silken purr. "You need to remember to have patience."

Nadil's eyes slowly narrowed not to a glare, but to slivers of concentration. "Let him have his fun. We will have ours in time."

His attention drawn to the landscape sloping out below them and curving around with the coil of rivers and streams, he did not notice the way faded blue eyes glanced briefly at his face then over to where Lykouleon stood equally lost in thought, his brow furrowed.

Or maybe he did notice, Kharl thought, letting the tease of a smile grace his features and a trace of wind toy with the land.

No matter.

Nadil was right, after all. All he had to do was be patient.

He too looked down at the forest spread below, allowing his gaze to linger not on the miniature camplights but on the condensing fog between them.

His fun would come in time.

:n:

Notes: So I wondered for a while if I should just make them all human/regularly humanoid. Then I figure, heck, why not? The cat idea isn't cliché in this fanfiction section yet, anyway. Besides, I think it looks oddly cute. :sweatdrop:

Questions? Comments? Drop a line.


	2. Summer

Disclaimer: Props for story still to Hannah. I think I'll have to edit out some of her genius later on, though. Adorable as they may be, I might retch writing in any of her original (and meant in pure chibi innocence, I assure you) endings involving kittens.

Warnings: Minor swearing, cat-people (WTF), AU, almost schoolfic, time jump between chapters, three (four?) connected stories.

Vernal Solstice (6/21)

:n:

The wind was by this time so intertwined with the creviced mountains that it was hard to imagine the still that came before. Not difficult for the rocks with their long slow memory of times unheard of in even the most ancient tales, but nearly impossible for the small creatures that crawled over them, clinging to their brief glimpses of life. Millions of souls had been born into this world now seemingly created from the wind; mice, birds, rats, and any vast amount of insects and their relatives had all spawned and died in the gale. Still other, larger, creatures were forced to accept it as a continual part of life: rabbits, snakes, cats—

"They're moving again."

Deep red eyes narrowed further, their pupils contracting to the faintest glint of black against their bloody surface.

Nadil leaned out farther over the granite boulders serving as a rough wall, claws pressing into the weathered rock as the world splayed itself below. Were she really a nude female as the old legends said, a portion of his mind noted, she would be arcing towards him with her bare chest at his mercy. It was a pleasing image, both from the artistic form it presented and from the thrill of strength he was so used to.

He smiled briefly and then relaxed his suddenly tight grip. Never mind. His thoughts reining themselves back to their former course, Nadil turned his attention back to the far West where the faint smoke trail he had been keeping an eye on suddenly vanished. Two small figures could be seen packing up their rough camp with the skill of tired repetition. He looked away. Their foolish antics bored him and he had more important work to attend to.

Lykouleon walked over, light robes wafting on the crisp breeze. While the wind here was weaker, all three of them could hear it howling about them and the occasional burst would tear through. Nadil was certain it had nothing to do with Kharl's barrier failing at times. The other was just toying with them.

"Anything new?" Nadil directed Lykouleon's eyes to the movement. "Nothing of any importance."

The headmaster tsked, his tongue tapping gently against his only slightly pointed teeth. "Moving again?"

"They seem to have chosen a nomadic lifestyle," Nadil replied in a lazy drawl, dark ear pricking as a third set of steps drew near.

"Are you going to do anything about that, headmaster?" Kharl asked cheerfully, silver tail sweeping the air behind him in a crescent akin to the moon morphing slowly in the night.

"No," Lykouleon shook his head although his eyes showed concern. "We can't interfere yet. Besides, they're not the ones worrying me the most." Both he and Kharl turned their attention to the North, the taller man waiting obediently as Lykouleon continued. "I thought they, at least, would have bonded by now. Rune and Tintlet are always so good at welcoming others, but Lim Kaana…" he shook his head. "I don't blame her for feeling like the odd one out, but she's being even more hostile than usual."

"I'm sure it's not her fault," Kharl soothed, letting his words gently caress so his hands would be free to toy playfully with the edges of the wind as it brushed past. "There's no end to what she may be feeling."

"You're right." Lykouleon smiled at his colleague.

And he was. Above all else, Kharl was adept at picking apart jealousy and greed. While he could not use them to his means as effectively as Nadil, he was far more talented at detecting them in even the most trace amounts, although he usually kept his knowledge to himself.

Nadil ignored the conversation next to him, instead letting his eyes fall nearly directly down to the small clearing and rocky mountain root below.

The two inhabitants of the cave hidden amidst the boulders and shrubbery had not been starved out of half a dozen poorly chosen locations nor let the unspoken thrust barriers between them. They had needed neither to keep them in a constant state of internal warfare. It didn't look that way from up among the cliff faces, of course, but the wind had multiple uses. In addition to keeping them hidden behind a misty veil that shimmered and appeared to stir if one looked at it full on, it brought snatches of conversation up the steep slopes to patiently listening ears.

All one needed to do was wait.

:n:

"You imbecile!"

The shriek cut the morning air as with a scythe, Cesia's white tail mimicking the curved blade as well.

"You complete and utter failure! How many times have I had to tell you, Rath? How many!" She passed her hand roughly over her face, careful not to scratch herself with her already extended claws. "Do you get off on not listening to me? Do you enjoy ruining everything you touch? You are the most immature, self-centered, whiny, and incompetent person I know!"

Her flaming amber eyes swept briefly over their growing camp, lingering momentarily on the clothesline she had erected several weeks ago between two saplings. It was leaning in on itself now; she should get around to fixing it. Turning back to Rath she motioned with a hiss at the charred mess at his feet.

"I told you I would do the cooking, Rath. That was a bird. It was edible, until you decided to experiment on it. Do you know how hard it is to get any decent food around here? You're not allowed to just throw it away like that!"

"Of course I know," Rath snorted, "since I'm the one who has to actually get it." His dark tail curled, still but for a brief jerk. "It's rich of you to call me the complainer, Cesia, when you're the one always yelling about work you were 'too busy' to do yourself."

The fleeting image of a burst of wind magic sending the nearer sapling flying at Rath's head flashed deliciously through Cesia's mind before being discarded.

"I'm the one who has to do all the things you can't," she snapped. This was true and they both knew it. "It shouldn't be too hard to remember not to touch the food you sweated your poor self over. If you had any amount of common sense, you'd realize we're supposed to be working together. And that means you can't just sabotage everything or we'll both fail! God, Rath—!"

He scowled. "Fine, blame everything on me."

"I am." The words were blunt and unvarnished.

Glaring harder at her brusque nature, he continued. "But what about you, Cesia? Real rich of you to…" his words trailed off as his eyes widened. "…Forget it." He turned away suddenly, busying himself with walking to the small garden they had recently set up, calling over his shoulder, "I'm going to see if anything needs to be watered."

Cesia blinked, confused by the out of character throwing of the argument.

"Wait, Rath!" she called after him, glancing back down at the blackened mess of wasted protein before giving chase. "What is it?" She was walking alongside him now, hands clasped behind her back as she arched her neck, trying to meet his gaze.

"Nothing." He was quiet, now dropping to his knees in the exposed dirt, checking briefly for choking weeds.

She crouched next to him, folding her arms over her knees, hair drifting languidly behind her. "Come on," she pushed, "it's not like you to drop it so quickly."

"And now you're an expert on how my mind works?" Rath asked, irritated. "No," he caught himself, "don't answer that. I just don't think we should argue anymore." He stood quickly, shooting a glance down at her. "I'll go clean up the mess, then catch something else."

"No, it's alright," Cesia tried to reassure him, still confused about the unexpected change. "Are you feeling okay, Rath?"

"I'm fine," he said firmly, offering her his hand. She took it, and he pulled her quickly to her feet. She ended up closer to him than she had expected, the fast momentum jerking her forward.

"Ah," Cesia began, about to step away.

"They're watching."

The words were only breathed, but she could her them clearly because of her uncomfortably close proximity. It took only a moment for her to realize what he had said and why his demeanor had shifted so quickly.

"Wh—" she caught herself, swallowing her words quickly. Of course. It made sense, now that she thought of it. Sound traveled through air and she wasn't foolish enough to have thought they'd actually be going about their partnership unattended. They were being constantly supervised, whether they liked it or not.

The breeze toyed with her long hair.

"Where will you try to catch something else?"

Rath noticed the innocuous question and gave a grim inward smile. So she wasn't as dumb as she acted.

"Maybe down by the stream," he shrugged, "it's hot, and fish are easier to catch anyway."

Cesia merely nodded in response, the mutual understanding of silence starting to irk her. Why was it so bad for them to hear a perfectly normal and justified argument? It wasn't anything personal. They'd fought briefly over far lesser things during the past few years. They'd both been witness to far louder and less couth arguments, some erupting in the midst of classes or lectures. So why the hell would Rath be so uptight about it?

She sighed. What a boy.

What a mess.

:n:

Rune stood on the small sand-and-rock covered shore, the gray legs of his uniform rolled up to just below his knees as the water licked over his bare feet. It felt good: cool and smooth over his warm skin.

The nearer wall of their surprisingly sturdy lean-to was beginning to leak. Water had pooled by their blankets the night previous, and he and Tintlet had decided the best route to take would be to simply replace the crooked wooden beams lashed together with new ones.

Lim Kaana, as usual, had not been involved in the conversation.

He narrowed his eyes, squinting across at the opposing shoreline. Raising his hand, he shaded his face, focusing as best as he could on a fairly young tree near the lake's edge. Its slender leaves cast a light shadow over the sparse grass now yellowing in the start of summer's heat.

"What are you doing?"

Rune turned, startled at the sharp words, eyes alighting upon Lim Kaana's small form. The sleeves of her uniform had been roughly cut off at the shoulder, and he winced internally, hoping she hadn't discarded the precious material.

"We need to repair the shelter," he said steadily, resolving to ask Tintlet to look discreetly for the cloth later. "The easiest way to do that is to just replace the whole wall."

"The other side's got cracks in it, too."

Rune forced back a sigh. Of course she would complain. No matter what the decision had been, Lim Kaana was certain to go against it. Whether it was gathering food or water or rocks to surround the fire, Lim Kaana disliked every possible outcome. He had pitied her at first for being placed apart from her few friends, but now she was simply grating on his few remaining nerves. He hadn't given much thought to how stressful it would be to create shelter and sustenance out of the few materials available to them, but holding his temper in check was proving to be his greatest challenge.

"I know it does." It was with a great effort that Rune managed to keep these words smooth as well. When he was younger, when he had just started at the academy, it wasn't unusual for him to loose his head and snap at people several times a day. Several times a class, even.

"You should rebuild the entire thing."

Rune turned to face the far shore again, mouth firmly shut. Getting into a shouting match with the little brat was the last thing he wanted to be doing.

"If you get the wood, I'll take apart the shelter."

His eyes widened, losing their angry slant.

Had she really offered to help?

True, offered to help and increased his workload, but still…

Lim Kaana seemed to take his momentary surprise and subsequent hesitation as mistrust for her true actions, for her next words were defensive.

"I just thought it might be easier if we did it that way." The angry raising of the thin strip of silvery fur down her spine was almost audible in her speech. "I don't want the shelter to leak. It soaks my side first."

_I don't want to have to edge any closer to you during the night than I have to._

"No…" Rune turned back, surprise evident as he slowly shook his head. "Thank you. That would be very helpful of you."

Lim Kaana flushed at the unexpected praise, digging her shoe into the soft dirt.

"Forget it," she muttered, and then looked back up, large eyes narrowed. "I just don't want to get drenched every time it rains, got it? I'm not trying to be helpful. This is still the stupidest thing I've ever been forced to take part in." That was true and they both knew it. "And this isn't going to be a regular thing. I just don't like getting wet every time it gets a little cloudy."

Her short tail lashed, whipping the air about her knees and Rune gave a nod and grudging smile. Whatever she might say, he was pleased with her slight change of heart. Tintlet had been right, it seemed. All she needed was some time to adjust to her surroundings.

"Why don't you get started taking it apart, and as soon as Tintlet gets back, the two of us will head over to the other side and bring back some more wood."

His words were reasonable, as Lim Kaana was too short to easily cross the lake, but she scowled, angry color rising back to her cheeks. Turning abruptly, she gave a curt nod to the bewildered Rune.

"Rune," Tintlett stepped from the small woods surrounding their tiny clearing, light ears perked forward. "There's a tree on the opposite shore a little way down that has fallen over already. When we get there, do you think we should take a look at it?"

He nodded, face immediately clearing upon her arrival. "That sounds good. I guess we should head that way, then."

Quickly heading past the younger girl, he stood next to Tintlet for a second, letting their hands naturally interlock, their fingers clutching tightly. The slight coat of fur over the backs of their hands matched perfectly: chocolate and caramel.

Lim Kaana forced herself not to retch.

As they slipped back between the slender trees, she dropped to her knees, forcefully prying apart the wooden beams tightly lashed together with strands of their precious rope. It took a great deal of effort not to rip it to pieces.

It wouldn't matter to her. It didn't matter to her. The disrespect for her personal space: that was what mattered. They had the nerve to go around brushing innocently into each other and holding hands and occasionally sharing a vague dreamy look in the stupid, shallow, lovelorn glances they so often wore.

That was all that mattered. It was inappropriate and she didn't appreciate having it rubbed in her face.

"Goddamnit," she cursed as a particularly tight knot gave her problems. The fibers were splitting, biting at her fingers, and she slashed the wood in a sudden burst of frustration. Glaring at the now scarred boards, claws still extended and sharply glinting in the sun, she yanked the broken rope free.

At least, she noted with a bitter satisfaction, the wind was picking up and there was a scattering of clouds overhead.

It looked like rain.

:n:

It was afternoon by the time the rough camp was packed up.

Kitchel dumped water on the last smoldering embers, the actual fire having been extinguished that morning, letting her hand drop down to her side, the metal pot bumping into her bare leg.

"You did get some of that, right?" she asked Thatz, gesturing vaguely at the now-drenched wood with her free hand. He nodded sharply, hoisting a heavily packed bag onto his back and steadying himself against the bare frame of their shelter.

"We should follow the river downstream," Kitchel commented, continuing a long conversation from the previous days and nights.

"That's what you said last time, and we were no better off here than previously." Thatz shook his head. "Look, if we go up, we'll hit those hills. I say we should see what's over there."

"We'll lose the water," she explained with a misleading patience, "but if we just follow it, I think it will open further. There'll be more food and more shelter." She hoisted up her own, considerably lighter, bag. "So let's go!" Kitchel pointed, starting to walk.

"I'm not going anywhere." He shook his head, frowning. "We went down stream last time. That's how we ended up here."

"We didn't go down far enough," she turned back to face him, clasping her hands together in mock pleading. "Trust me," she said, the words nearly coming out in italics on the warm air, "will ya? I swear, we need to go that way."

He hesitated, obviously not wanting to, but unable to come up with any new arguments. Her point did make sense. He just doubted if the changes would occur to the landscape as quickly as she claimed they would.

"Fine," he sighed. "We can go that way. But if we don't get anywhere better by nightfall, we're heading back upstream in the morning."

Kitchel nodded enthusiastically, pounding her fist into her open palm. "Right! Grab that," she gestured to the lightweight wooden frame tautly bound together with the slender rope, "and follow me." Snatching the smoldering branch from Thatz, she started off again, light hair trailing about her face in the refreshing breeze.

He muttered, pushing his now worn gray sleeves up his arms and easily dragging the outline of the shelter after her, casting narrow rents in the dry ground from the narrow wooden poles.

The clouds passed lazily overhead, their thin shadows spreading over the land below as heavy wingbeats, and it wasn't long before Kitchel, several yards ahead of her companion, let out a delighted shout.

"Hurry up," she called, "get your tail over here!"

Her own was curled smugly about her legs, ears upright although one was turned back to the louder sound of water.

"I was right," she beamed, smiling broadly, "look at this."

He released his grip on the lightweight frame, letting it totter by the riverbed and begrudgingly nodded. "It does look a little wider," he admitted, noticing also the increased amount of grass lining it. "It's broadening quicker than I thought it would. The hills look like they open up some," he peered into their shadows, "if we head into there, we should be more sheltered from the wind."

The wind, indeed, had been plaguing them. During the day it was a mere breeze, a welcome relief from the uninhibited sun, but as soon as the night fell it gained in speed and tenacity, slipping into their rough shelter and picking its way through the threads of their blankets and clothes. They had to get the fire started early, so as to get it large enough to last through the dark without being blown out. Food for it they had in plenty; its only enemy was the persecuting wind.

Kitchel nodded as both of them noticed the sparse clusters of trees slowly even out into a slender blanket, providing the hills with a cool shade.

"I told you we should have just kept walking last time."

He winced internally. She was right, and they both knew it, although he was loath to admit it.

"Fine," he said, trying in vain to imitate a casual tone of voice, "I agree with you. Happy? Go get water to boil, and I'll start the fire again."

At least she was easier to get along with now that they weren't at each other's throats over every little mistake, he reluctantly noted. Once they had exhausted their tempers and settled halfheartedly into the task before them, he had found getting along with her nearly smooth. Not pleasant, he was quick to mentally add. Just easier than he had thought it would have been.

That by itself was surprise enough.

:n:

Night fell as expected and the land was washed in navy and violet, the turning of the world holding up as always under the weight of the years.

The wind swept across the land as well, stirring fallen leaves and the surface of the water as it arced its way back up the mountains, whistling over the creatures fast asleep below.

The ground was used by now to the miniature stars cast down upon them that burned hot and golden against the dry warm air. They were reminders of the eyes closely watching through the shadows, for they were markers throwing light upon the points of importance to those who cared about such things. The land itself didn't.

Was the darkness a shield, these sparks would be amber cracks within the finely wrought metal, betraying those who might have wanted it had they known of its purpose. As it was, however, the wind found it far too easy to test the strength of the unguarded blade, feeling out the thin steel with a series of fine cuts.

The fires flickered and the wind pulled back before they blew out.

Kharl sighed.

The game was just too simple.

Nadil was carefully watching the positions of the smoking glows, mentally marking their exact locations down. He had been pleased when they all settled for what seemed to be the final time. He said it made things easier.

Kharl agreed: too easy for his tastes.

He had waited and look where it had gotten him! To the very brink of boredom with no challenge now, no hope for any real fun. It was simple to strike a still target, even more so when the target didn't know you were coming or even a threat at all. The other man had wanted total dominance and it looked as though he would have it. Lykouleon was still oblivious, Kharl thought almost ruefully, or at least it seemed as though he was.

Watching the silver sheen of fog and mist between the shadows lining the stars, Kharl pouted.

Matching white and black figures curled around their shared darkness while a fire glowed outside the fortunate cave.

Not much to see there. Merely two fighting fate and rapidly losing although neither was yet aware of their movements in that particular game.

Three more: two shades of brown and a silver, all wrapped in homely gray lying sideways under the trees, a half finished structure alongside them and their smoldering light.

Barely anything more… just a slight satisfaction in the knowledge that only two of the three actually slept.

The last pair was unconscious at their new campsite, a bright orange light between them as they slept on either side of it, their actual beds for the moment forgotten.

There was even less to interest him here than at the other two. He cared little for what happened on these outskirts of the boundaries apart from awakening them on the occasional night with the sudden extinguishing of their fire.

Kharl straighted: he had been leaning over the edge of the stone wall, his light robes perfectly still although those of his companions now making their way over to him gusted about their forms. A confidential waver rose from the lips of the darker haired, intended for the other.

"…Worry. Everything will be run smoothly."

Kharl smiled, his pale eyes narrowing in sudden thought as Lykouleon nodded brightly.

"Yes," Lykouleon said, "I believe it will."

Kharl couldn't have put it better himself.

:n:

DKGurl:sweatdrop: Uh, yeah… I'll get on those… This is the only one where I actually have set dates for uploading the stuff, so it's the only one where I'm actually good about doing so… :shifty eyes at the pieces of other things to be finished:

Hououza: Wh00t, intrigued. XD; Thank you for the GL&BW. I like them. I think if they were a food, they'd be dark chocolate truffles with raspberry filling. o-o :has just realized this:

Random Irony: Oh, I like your name. n-n And thanks. I once read this Gundam Wing story where all the pilots had to be animals… but none could be cats. It was interesting what the author ended up coming up with. /offtopic

:n:

Okay, you know the drill.

…To be honest, this was ready for updating by 6/21. I just never got around to it until now.


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